Old school comes down, but memories still stand.

Byline: Scott Maben The Register-Guard

COTTAGE GROVE - Brick by brick and board by board, the old high school here is tumbling into piles of rubble.

The demolition has become a community spectacle. All day long people stop by to snap photos of big equipment picking the building apart or to reflect on more than six decades of history embodied by the former home of the Lions.

"It takes so long to put up a facility like this and so short a time to tear it down," said Bob Singer as he stood watching a crew dismantle the auditorium on Tuesday.

Singer, pastor at Cottage Grove Bible Church, lives across the street from the old school and has a front-row seat to the methodical destruction. Both his sons attended the school, and the oldest graduated there in 1997.

"I understand why it's coming down," Singer said. "But it's a shame it had to. A lot of work went into it, a lot of memories."

The South Lane School Board decided in February to raze the high school, which opened on Taylor Avenue in 1941. A new, larger school that replaced it opened last fall.

The district outgrew the old building, which also had become a maintenance nightmare. It was plagued by flooding, its electrical system was archaic and the boilers needed to be replaced.

"We were putting a significant amount of money every year in keeping the place operational," Superintendent Krista Parent said. "We were constantly having to repair and rig new things."

Some residents would have preferred to see the school saved, but it just wasn't cost-effective, Parent said.

"These are hard decisions to make, especially in a community our size," she said. "We know it's the right decision, but it's still a hard decision to make."

Delbert Perini, born and raised in Cottage Grove, has followed the demolition almost every day since it began two weeks ago. He sat in an old pickup truck parked across the street and took a few more photos as workers drew nearer to the gymnasium, the final part of the school to go.

"I imagine the termites are getting disturbed," Perini said with a chuckle, then pointed out that the building was wooden with a brick facade - not as stable as people probably assumed all these years.

"If we'd have had an earthquake, it would all have been in the basement," he said.

Perini didn't attend school there - his family lived in Yoncalla during those years - but he did work in maintenance at the school from 1975 to '91. He's well aware of its shortcomings.

"You can't imagine the problems we had," he said. "My last two years there I think we should have had someone do nothing but set out buckets."

The school was infamous for leaking when it rained, and trash cans to catch a multitude of drips were common in hallways and classrooms. It also flooded frequently, with water seeping in from underground. The auditorium often had to be pumped out.

"After 60-some years, it served its purpose," Perini said. "It was not in the best shape."

Still, watching a community landmark crumble isn't easy.

Travis Sayre, 13, and Eric Macauley, 15, both eighth-graders at South Lane Academy next door to the old school, watched the bustle of trucks during their lunch break. Both of their mothers attended school there.

"It's just kind of sad it's going," Macauley said.

At the other end of the school, Cottage Grove High juniors Abby Simpson, Ashley Ladd and Morgan Edwards - all members of the Lions softball team - spray-painted a few final mementos on the school spirit boulder. The three spent their first two years of high school there.

"It's just not the same," Ladd said of their new school.

Some bystanders have asked for a brick or two as souvenirs, and demolition workers have obliged. Many others bought old desks, chairs, pencil sharpeners, sewing machines and other furnishings during a community garage sale last month.

The school district and Staton Companies, the demolition contractor, agreed to recycle a large amount of the material from the project, Parent said. Most of the metal, asphalt, concrete and brick will be reused, as will about 80 percent of the structural lumber, she said. The gym bleachers will be remilled, and other wood will be chipped and recycled. The district's other schools took usable items.

The school board decided to keep the property, even though selling it would help relieve a little budget pressure in the short term. Someday the land could be the site of a new elementary school, Parent said.

As the former vice principal and athletic director for Cottage Grove High, she said she also had an emotional reaction to the old school coming down.

"You do feel a little bit of a loss," Parent said. "On the other hand, we're so pleased with our new place. It's a new chapter."

CAPTION(S):

The old Cottage Grove High School opened in 1941 and had become too costly to maintain. A new school opened last fall. Cottage Grove High softball players Abby Simpson (left) and Ashley Ladd make their mark on the school spirit boulder while the school is demolished. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard